I have a 1996 Plymouth Breeze that has a bad vibration in the steering wheel when the car is stopped in drive gear. It doesn't vibrate in park nor when driving down the road. Someone told me it was the damper but no one I ask knows anything about this. Please help

Time for new brake and resurface the brake rotor.

Mai

HAVE THEM CHECK ALL MOTOR MOUNTS OR FOR A TPS SENSOR OR IDLE CONTROL VALVE OK

if you let off the gas and it stops vibrating, have the cv axles checked. if the steering wheel shakes at parking lot speeds, a tire is bad.

Obviously you have several things can cause this:
1) Bent Wheel,
2) Loose or Missing Lug Nuts,
3) Lost Balance Weight(s),
4) Wheels Badly Out of Balance,
5) Bad Front Wheel Bearings.
6) CV Joints badly worn.
Basically, anything to do with proper balance of the front wheels can cause this. Usually this condition exists somewhere around 45 MPH +/- about 5 MPH. Have a reliable ASE Technician check it out as soon as possible. If a wheel were to come off at any speed it could be instant disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Being a front wheel drive car, the CV Joints could be worn out. You don't give the Miles on your vehicle. Typically CV Joints and Hub Kits (Wheel Bearings) do wear out. If you have in excess of 100,000 miles replace what needs it. Get an estimate First and consider if is worth fixing as a 1999 Breeze may not be worth the investment of the required repairs.

check your spark plugs. it sounds like you arent getting that great of a spark

I concur with anon263. When we replaced driver-side axle with an aftermarket one, the vibration was horrible. Most people around me would not believe that was the cause, but as soon as we replaced it with a Subaru OEM rebuilt axle, the vibration disappeared. Get a new one from Subaru if you can afford it. Here's hoping the rebuilt one will last, although some out there have said that it may cause other problems down the line, most likely just because it won't last as long as a new one. The aftermarket axles, with exception of MW, are off just enough in their designs and spline size to allow harmonic vibration to transfer from the engine to the wheel and then your steering wheel when you are stopped at a stop sign and still in gear. The vibration usually goes away when you put it in neutral or park. In my case, I even thought I detected some strange vibration when driving.

if it were the rotors it only happens when braking take in have them turn rotors see what happens good luck

I would have the rear wheel bearings checked asap and rear brakes as well. Sounds like a very bad wheel bearing but also makes me wonder why the shop that did the tires and alignment for you didnt find this for you. After a alignment the car should be driven. So take it somewhere else and have the wheel bearings checked asap but be very carefull driving.

Vibrations while driving like you are describing can come from tires that have defects (internally broken belts) (wheel weights that have fallen off) or a bent rim (perhaps from another driver [not you :-) ] hitting a curb) Are the tires worn? Have they been balanced and rotated regularly? You report no vibration in the steering wheel.
Vibrations during braking can be warped rotors or discs (but this doesn't sound like your problem since these kind are usually felt in the steering wheel during braking).
If and only if you feel like you can do this safely,
you can try getting the car up to 55, placing the car in neutral, then switching the "engine off" but leave the "key on" (be warned the power steering will go out but the vehicle can still be steered though the steering wheel will be much stiffer) if you try this (do it perhaps in a vacant parking lot or on an empty road) and the vibration goes away with the engine off but while the vehicle is still moving, then the vibration is engine or transmission related. If this is the case you might hope for maybe a bad engine mount. Bad engine mounts can be diagnosed with the vehicle stopped as well. However, if the vibration remains with the van moving forward but with the engine off, the vibration is likely a problem with the tires or suspension. Try to provide some more info.
If you don't feel comfortable trying the above suggestion, please take the vehicle in to an ASE certified suspension and steering professional for further diagnosis.

Finally, I had a similar situation happen to me today. I was riding with a friend in their van and the vehicle started vibrating more and more around 55 mph. We stopped and carefully checked the front tires (including the lug nuts for tightness) but
found a tire defect. (it had several broken steel belts that caused a bulge in the tire and thus the vibration) We changed the tire and the vibration was gone. Good luck to you.

hello have u rotated the tires front to rear then drive and see if u still have the noise and vibration if drive yes while driving slowely turn the steering wheel left to right just a small amount if the noise changes its probably a front wheel bearing if that doesn.t help drive the truck till you get the vibration then let up on the gas pedal does the noise go away if so you might have a bad u_joint but do the tires first how many miles???????